But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:7. let your light shine through your cracked pot. Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in.

It is evident that leading neo-evangelicals believe our main goal is to eliminate doctrinal distinctive’s and to emphasize unity among those claiming to be believers.

One of the basic ideas of today’s philosophy of ecumenical evangelism is that love is more important than doctrine. Ecumenical evangelists say that doctrine divides, whereas love unifies. What does the Bible say? Is it true that in the New Testament love is more important than doctrine, or Truth? In the so-called Love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, we are told:

Now abideth in faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love (agape).

Some say — That settles it: love is supreme! But when we examine that chapter more carefully, we discover that Truth is also mentioned in the chapter. In verse 6 we are told that, love rejoices in the truth. In other words, faith, hope, and love are virtues but Truth has an altogether different status. It is the frame of reference, the foundation, the atmosphere without which virtues such as love cannot exist at all.

Love rejoices in the truth. Why? Because without Truth to define it, to interpret it, to protect it, to guide it, to channel it — love can become a total disaster. We dare not place Truth on the same level as virtues. Virtues would shrivel up and die if it were not for Truth.

We cannot imagine life on this planet without water. Water is absolutely essential for life, as long as it stays within proper channels, within its canals, aqueduct, and pipes. But when water gets out of control, it is the second greatest catastrophe that can happen to this planet, second only to fire. On the one hand, it is an absolute blessing, but on the other hand, it can be a total disaster. So, it is with love.

God’s Definition of Love

Love without divine definition (God’s revealed channels within which it must flow) becomes the most horrible thing on earth. It can destroy human beings by the millions and can be reduced to satanic sentimentalism.

Love, as defined by God, is doing for a person that which is best for him in the light of eternity, no matter what the cost may be. That is how it is defined by God. Somehow, when it comes to world evangelism, many people have forgotten God’s definitions and have fallen into sentimentalism. Consider some key Scriptures which illustrate the distinction between love and Truth.

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. — John 8:31,32

Ultimate freedom may only be achieved by total submission — unconditional surrender to Truth. There is nothing here about love.

Love Obeys the Truth

There are many who speak glowingly of their love for Jesus Christ and for lost men. In John 14:15,21,23,24, He stresses that obedience to Truth is the best form of love:

If ye love me, keep my commandments He that hath my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keeps not my sayings: …

This is what we call the acid test of love — does a man obey the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ? It makes no difference how much we talk about our love if we do not obey Christ. It is obedience that counts, not words. Obedience without love is theoretically possible, but love without obedience is, in practice, impossible. It is a satanic substitute for God’s plan.

Love Teaches the Truth

John 21 gives an example of one who said much about his love for Jesus. But when it came to obedience, it was not there. When the pressure came, his resolution collapsed, and he denied his Lord. After the resurrection of Jesus, our Lord confronted Peter lovingly, but in truth:

How do we express love to the Lord Jesus according to the lesson of this confrontation? By feeding His sheep, as He also commanded in the great commission, by teaching His people and training them in the whole counsel of God, teaching them whatsoever I have commanded you.

In Acts 20, we find a good example of an apostle who obeyed the great commission. He says nothing about love to the Ephesians in this passage. But he exhibited the supreme love of any disciple toward the Ephesians. What did he do for them? Did he say, I love you, I love you, I love you? Acts 20:26-27 gives the answer:

Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

Love Leaves Nothing Out

The result was that all which dwelt in Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord Jesus. Paul based his evangelism on sound doctrinal instruction. That is God’s key for world evangelism. The words of Paul in Galatians 1:6 were blunt and necessary as Paul says in Galatians 4, in order to tell them the Truth.

Ephesians 4 tells us how we can achieve the perfect balance. Note the gifts God gave the true Church, the body of Christ, for service and ministry in this age: And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers. — Ephesians 4:11

Every one of these gifts in the form of a person is a doctrinal person. They are all totally involved in Truth. All were totally involved in preaching, teaching, and discipling in the light of revealed Truth. There is no teaching whatsoever in the New Testament suggesting that love is more important than doctrine or Truth.

Love is referred to in Galatians 4:15 where we read of, speaking the truth in love. Love is the manner and method of speaking Truth. Love is the servant of Truth. It makes it easier to receive, absorb, and digest. But it must never be allowed to eclipse or set aside Truth. God’s Truth can never change, but God’s Truth in the hands of human messengers is a very delicate and fragile thing.

Love Resists Poisons

There is no living system known to science that can survive without an intricate, elaborate, and constantly-used system to purify itself from poisons. This is true of God’s Church. It is impossible for any organization to survive unless it has a system to purify itself from poisonous influences.

We need to remember we are in a highly poisoned environment. We are immersed in Satan’s world. He has constant access to every servant of God through his fallen nature. How can the relative success of a Christian’s ministry be evaluated apart from God’s infallible inerrant Word? Who is to determine what success means?

Love Protects the Flock

Did the Lord Jesus encourage His disciples to listen sympathetically to other religious leaders of that time? His answer is given in Matt. 7:15, Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Yet we are told today by neo-evangelicals that we should both teach and study in liberal universities and colleges of theology. There is one thing worse than division and that is peace with compromise. Truth is infinitely more important than the false unity of the world.

Love Corrects Error

Why? Because for the sake of Truth, even families will be split with hostility so that at least someone within that unit can perpetuate God’s Truth. In Romans 16:17 Paul says,

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which causes divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

If we honor and love the Lord Jesus, we will watch for anything which may destroy His Truth. We will avoid such people.

A good way of life or good doctrine is always contaminated by a bad environment or bad associations. A mere association of the good with the bad will never make the bad thing better. The good gets worse; the bad does not improve. It is the same with a rotten apple in a barrel. The bad one never gets better, but the good ones go rotten (1 Cor. 15:33). Is it right for doctrinal purity to be blatantly submerged for the sake of worldly ecclesiastical unity? Surely this is a total denial of the Holy Spirit’s Word through the Scriptures.

The only way that you never get cracked pots is to never use them, to set them on the shelf and just look at them. (Repeat)

God loves cracked pots because;

We don’t live in a room that never damages us

We do not live in a world that never put their hands on us

We live in a world that is more like a scratch and dent sale than a showcase room of collectibles.

Here is a liberating thought for you –

God didn’t create you to be decoration.

Because you are cracked, does not mean you have no value.

(6-7) that we read

God tells us that He gets glory when His light shines out of darkness.

Out of His abundant light, He allows His light to shine in His people. So that they not only see God’s light when looking at God but through God’s people.

God’s power working through us in earthen vessels brings Him Joy.

God does not have to work through us. He does not need us, we need Him. But He chooses to work His power through us. You want to put a smile of God’s face, allow Him to work through you. It will bring Him Joy.

A created pot has not value until it is used for its purpose. An empty pot has not value. A pot sitting on a shelf just looks pretty, not useful.

God specializes in broken.

He never gives up on someone because they have a few dings and dents.

The broken pieces fit together when the potter is the one putting the pieces together.

I think God loves yard sales- because He get great joy finding something that someone else has discarded and finding value in it and will put it again to use.

Jeremiah 18

The prophet Jeremiah was instructed to go see what God had in store for Israel.

“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord. Go down to the potter’s house and there I will give you my message. So, I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot that he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so, the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.”

God was giving instruction to the prophet Jeremiah for the nation of Israel.

The principal is the same for us today-

God doesn’t throw out- He desires to reshape the broken and unwanted piece of clay and molding into something beautiful.

“Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does? Declared the Lord. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand Israel.”

God turns our weaknesses into strengths.

Some are broken and trying to find what good can come of these experiences we have gone through.

Psalm 20:7

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord.”

Apostle Paul tells a young Timothy

“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

Feel overwhelmed?

Over extended

Tired/ exhausted

People/things not moving fast enough?

God turns weakness into strength when we turn our weakness over to him and His strength becomes our strength.

The devil wants you to believe;

You are the only one feeling this way.

You are the only one going through something like this.

Pushing you to give up because you feel powerless.

God uses Cracked pots

Recap

God loves Cracked pots

God turns our weaknesses into strengths

And finally, God uses cracked pots

I love calling you cracked pots! You and you and you! Why?

Because I am one too!

We are all damaged goods that the Lord has taken an interest in.

There is not one of us sitting here that does not need Jesus!

There is not one of us here who would make heaven without Jesus!

There is not one of us here who on our own merit is worthy of a relationship with a holy God!

Why?

Because we are sinners!

Because we are broken, and our vases should wear and tear and have the glue marks to prove it.

God turns those broken and glued marks of our lives and uses them as badges of honor for what He has brought us through and where He wants to take us.

What doe s it mean to be a broken vessel that God can use?

2 Corinthians 4:7-9 Read slowly and clearly

We are treasures to God- Clay yes! Breakable Yes! But important to God.

Containers made by a holy and perfect God.

All different sizes for all different purposes.

Dead Sea scrolls were found in jars of clay- God’s Word in clay jars- Gods Word in each of us for safe keeping.

Clay jars are temporary holding places- these bodies of ours are temporary holding places for what God has for us in the future.

The light of God’s Word entrusted to us and dwells inside.

While we were dead in our sin and destined for destruction (Colossians 2:13), God made a way for us to be made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our physical “jars of clay” will be resurrected one day to become glorified, eternal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:20–23). God extends an invitation for “whosoever will” to come to Him while still in these earthly bodies (Revelation 22:17).

This knowledge and resulting relationship with God are the greatest treasures any earthly vessel can hold.

Anderson Cooper evolves as spokesperson for swamp dweller’s in a fit of “We are not being fed!”

Cooper unloads on press secretary Sara Sanders because the M.S.M is not privy to the latest news releases from the White House. “In the past three months these daily releases have dwindled down to almost nothing said, Anderson.” I guess we can assume the media giants will be dredging the Potomic for fresh food.

There is a bolo alert out on “Frankenfish.” You remember them they are a cross between an eel, snake and piranha that breathes air and has needle like teeth and grows to three feet long. Well the media can get fresh food from the Potomic just remember to spit out the teeth.

Rather than the lies for specific situations, this question implies general and ongoing deceit, most likely one of the following complaints:

Why do Christians contradict one another?

Why do Christians pretend to have all the answers?

Why are Christians hypocrites?

Why do Christians assert what obviously can’t be true?

These questions are more easily answered if restated with less bias.

Why do Christians hold different perspectives?

We’re each speaking the truth we understand, like the blindfolded group describing an elephant as a snake, a tree, a wall, etc. How important for us to work for unity and share information to obtain a whole picture!

Why do Christians sometimes share the wrong answers?

We hold all the truth we need in the Bible and in the Holy Spirit. But we’re still learning to understand and apply it and will continue to do so throughout our lifetime because it is so immense. We tend to fill in the gaps in our understanding with what we think is the truth but later learn to be off the mark. It is important to first ascertain the accuracy of foundational truths, remain teachable about all we have yet to learn, and remember that everyone else is also still learning.

That especially applies to teachers, (as well as people bold enough to attempt Q&A on Christianity and the Bible). James 3:1-2 (NKJV) says this: “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things.”

Why don’t Christians live up to what they preach?

Christians can become so excited about how salvation has changed us that we make it sound as if we’ve been made complete. We can start sharing a message implying perfect people rather than invoking the perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ. Although our redemption from sin’s death penalty is complete, learning to live like Jesus is a lifelong process. If we uphold Jesus Who lives inside of us as the Author of eternal Life, we’ll be safely speaking truth. If we uphold our incomplete selves as “Life,” the world may only see a crumbling bit of dying flesh and call it “Lie.”

Why do Christians believe the impossible?

Perhaps the harshest physical reality of this world is that the dead don’t come back to life. The definition of a Christian is a Christ-follower anointed with His Holy Spirit, who used to be spiritually dead but has been spiritually resurrected. Once death has been overcome, nothing else God asks of the Christian is “impossible.”

A vast array of lies and heresies have infected Christianity in America. It is difficult to narrow the list down. Certainly, we cannot point to just one and say, “This is the one causing all the trouble.” But I think there are a few very fundamental falsehoods that have given birth to this whole huge tree of lies, with all of its many branches and vines and all of its rotten fruit, and all of the countless people who have gotten sick and died from eating it.

I want to focus on just one lie today. This is one of the worst because it is so popular and so appealing. Many Christians have been escorted into the darkness by pastors and other Christian leaders who have convinced them of this deception. It is a deception that cannot easily be summarized in one sentence, and is rarely stated as forthrightly as I will state it here, but generally it goes like this:

A Christian ought to always think positive and be optimistic. He shouldn’t think about his sin or worry much about repentance.

Some Christians have adopted this idea explicitly. I have heard it said — by layman and pastor alike — that God “cannot see our sin” because Christ’s blood covers it, and so we need not concern ourselves with repentance. Just as one brief example, here is Rick Warren telling his followers that they should just “relax” because God “does not see” their sin. He does not say anything about repentance.

This is not only wrong but blasphemous, as it denies (among other things) the omniscience of God. It claims that there are things in this world that we puny mortals can see but God cannot. It gives us power over God. It denies an essential truth of the Divine: that He sees and knows everything. There is nothing you’ve ever done or thought or said that God doesn’t know about. He sees your sin, He sees it clearly, He sees it far clearer than you see it, and He demands that you repent of it or face eternal consequences.

The majority of Christians will agree, theoretically, that repentance is necessary. But they approach it casually and dismissively, echoing the attitude of their pastors and priests who treat it as so trivial that it barely needs be mentioned in their sermons. The apostles and prophets and the Son of God all preached constantly of repentance — they were all “fire and brimstone” preachers, every one of them, Jesus especially — yet the message you hear in most churches today is one of unrelenting rainbows and sunshine. The flock is not called to fall to their knees and beg for God’s forgiveness. Instead they are given comfort and reassurance and positive thoughts to dwell upon. But it is a false comfort and a false assurance and a false positivity. It is a comfort and assurance and positivity that comes from ignoring their own wickedness.

Christ said something very different. “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). “Unless you repent, you will all perish” (Luke 13:3). Jesus doesn’t want us to “relax” in our sin. He wants us to make war upon it. He wants us to gouge out our eyes and chop off our hands if they are causing us to sin (Mark 9:43). He wants us to reach always for perfection and to never be satisfied with anything less (Matthew 5:48). Relax? No, there is no time for relaxation. In the Sermon on the Mount He tells us not to be anxious about Earthly and materialistic concerns (Matthew 6:25), but on the fate of our souls we should be obsessively focused, for it is a narrow and difficult road that leads to life (Matthew 7:13).

This message is repeated over and over and over again all over Scripture. Paul’s message was repentance. Peter’s message was repentance. John the Baptist’s message was repentance. Repentance is the first message that Jesus preached after He emerged from His confrontation with Satan in the desert. The word “repent” or “repentance” appears over 70 times in the Bible. Repentance was Christ’s first sermon and it must be our first step. We cannot have true faith without it. We cannot be saved without it. We cannot go to Heaven without it.

The first step to the first step is to feel shame for our sin. It does no good to say we are sorry if we are not really sorry. We “store up wrath for the day of wrath” when we have an “impenitent heart” (Romans 2:5). That is why it is so unfortunate that the modern church has developed a deep aversion to shame but not an aversion to the sin that causes it. A Christian will continue on doing shameful things while pushing away the shame that follows. “Jesus doesn’t want me to be ashamed,” he says. No, Jesus doesn’t want you to sin. But if you do sin, He wants you to feel shame and feel it deeply. It is Satan who wants you to sin and feel no shame.

If we have never felt shame and guilt, we have never repented. If we have never felt disgust at our sin, we have never repented. If we have never allowed ourselves to suffer for our sin and embraced our suffering the way the penitent thief on the cross embraced his, we have never repented. And if we have never resolved with all our hearts never to repeat the sin, we have never repented. If you’re like me, you have resolved a million times and yet sinned again anyway. Our flesh is weak, that much is obvious. But our spirit must still be willing, and a willing spirit means coming to God in total submission and saying, “I am devastated by my sin because I know that it offends You. I ask You to give me the grace to turn from this wickedness and never indulge in it again for as long as I live. I would rather die than continue along this path.”

This is true repentance. A repentant heart is a radical heart because it is a heart that prefers death over sin. A repentant man realizes that sin is what brought death into the world, sin is what put the Son of God on the Cross, therefore sin is the most terrible thing in all existence. He sees that his sins are the thorns in the crown placed on Christ’s head, the whip that scourged Him, the nails that went through Him, the spear that pierced Him. He sees this and weeps over it. A Christian who can stand casually before the Cross and feel nothing for the abuse he inflicted on his God, is in an extremely dangerous state. He is even more lost, and closer to Hell, than an atheist or a pagan who does not believe in Christ but at least has a proper sense of guilt for his wrongdoing.

There is no way to be “positive” and “optimistic” as we look upon the Cross. Optimism is a temporal gospel for people only concerned with temporal happiness. The “positive thinkers” are able to think positive because they refuse to think about anything difficult. The Cross is difficult. It is the most difficult thing in history. The positive thinking Christian ignores it — ignores his Savior’s suffering and sacrifice — and becomes even more degenerate than the crowds that gathered on Calvary to spit in His face. At least they were there. The arrogant Christian, with his stupid positivity, can’t be bothered to show up.

The correct attitude is not one of worldly positivity and optimism, nor is it one of negativity and pessimism. Rather, it is one of hope. A “positive thinking” person refuses to look at anything that is painful or uncomfortable, especially the painful and uncomfortable things within himself. A hopeful person endures pain, embraces discomfort, confronts wickedness, repents desperately of his sin, weeps over what is sorrowful, hates what is evil, and still has joy — a joy much deeper than the fleeting pleasure of mere optimism — because he knows that something beautiful lies beyond the suffering. He does not attempt to go around suffering to get to the destination. Instead he picks up his cross and follows Christ through it, right into the pain, right into the dark, right up that terrible hill, where salvation awaits.

But the first step is to repent. And then to repent again, and again, and again, every time we sin. This is not the easiest or most comfortable road to walk. Indeed, it is the hardest and narrowest road of all. It is also the only road that leads to life. So, all we can do is put one foot in front of the other and begin.

Henry Gruver is a “Prayer Walker to the World.” He started walking with the Lord on the Skid Row streets of Phoenix, Arizona in 1961 at the age of 18, and today he is still walking with God. Known widely for his detailed visions for nations, his ministry has spanned many continents and 54 countries. Wherever his Heavenly Father leads him, he prays. In his own words, he is a “world-walking prayer warrior.” “I have an addiction, and I am eager to see God’s work, so I do not want to live a comfortable life,” he says.

Over the age of seventy years old, Henry is still vivid and powerful. He was originally a very shy person, but when he decided to give his life to the Lord, God used him to become a warrior of evangelism.

17-year-old Henry was originally a very introverted high school student. One day, he went with his mother to a revival meeting, and on the stage, the man preaching the sermon suddenly asked Henry, “Do you know what God called you to do?” Then he prophesied that he would go to the world to preach the gospel and bring many people to the Lord. “I started thinking that the man was crazy, I was going to be an engineer! And I was so introverted.” Henry said jokingly. But he was willing to take a step for God.

Though it was difficult to believe that prophecy would be accomplished, Henry found that God constantly pulled and shaped his life, and he has had the opportunity to speak in front of leaders in many countries for the glory of God.

Please pray for Henry and his wife Judith as Henry has suffered a kidney problem and Judith recently suffered a heart attack.

There is a huge and wide spread lie that has grown in intensity. Lesbians, gays, bisexual and transvestites wrap about themselves rationalizations, defenses, veneers, postures and a way of living which sometimes even claim to be Christian.

“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men (referring to homosexuals) whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Jude 3-4.

Today many so-called church’s denominationally sectarianists appeal for acceptance of LGBT lifestyle as normal, God-given and healthy. Expressing their desire to appear to be open, liberal, live-and-let-live mentality.

Kindness to L,G,B,T’s is not achieved by lessening the severity of God’s Word. The strictest law of God is nothing but kindness. His laws are given purely for our benefit. All the fervor of the Homosexual community is simply their carnal reasonings manifesting in rebellion.

The gay community parades upon the premise of Christianity believing that their sickness is normal, and that Christian are filled with hatred. This is all based on the Hitlerian maximthat a big enough lie told often enough will be accepted as truth. Whoever doesn’t agree to the lie is of course judgmental and filled with hate.

As we all know the laws of our nation and states are changing daily why, to accommodate the Gay agenda as championed by California and other states. They are trying to stop Gays from being converted. Why, to enlarge their lie.

The only change from Old Testament to the New Testament concerning homosexuality has to do with treatment. In the O.T. the only answer was death, whether from stoning by Israel or fire from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah. In our society the answer is still same—death.

But Jesus has become that death for us; so, the answer is “Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” Gal.6:1. The Christian answer is repentance, redemption from sin, whenever a homosexual will allow that to take place.

Homosexuality is not an irreversible trap. We have seen many delivered once and for all. The current move is to stop all prayer for deliverance. This is a bogus attempt to stop people trapped in Homosexuality. Therefore, we do not give any credibility or acknowledgment to the Gay community. We owe it none. We regard it as an enemy of Christ no matter what it thinks of itself in its delusion. We know You cannot change your Chromosomes.

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Scott is a friend who has prayed with over 5 thousand people, and trained 600 Pastors. He is a genuine man of God. He has prayed for me and my wife as well as trained me.
I highly recommend his ministry to anyone suffering in areas where issues have not been resolved.
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